The number of Employment Tribunal claims raised has fallen 59 per cent since fees were introduced last year, new official figures show.

Statistics from the Ministry of Justice show since the introduction of issue fees, to be paid by a claimant before a claim proceeds to full hearing, the number of cases going to Tribunal have more than halved year-on-year.

The new rules, introduced by the coalition government in July 2013, levied charges of £1,200 for workers making claims against employers.

The figures show the number of cases from August 2013 – when fees were introduced – to March 2014 dipped to 16,206 compared with 39,567 for the same eight-month period the previous year.

Ministry of Justice figures show a total of 9,801 claims were received between October and December last year, which was down 79 per cent on the same period in 2012 and down 75 per cent on the previous quarter.

Statistics for the period April to June 2014 show a total of 4245 claims were lodged compared with

13,899 in the same quarter the previous year, a drop of 69 per cent.

However the Ministry of Justice report points out that from April 2014 the figures were impacted by the introduction of Early Conciliation, which requires ACAS to be notified of any dispute before a claim can now be lodged.

Early Conciliation was introduced with a view to trying to settle a dispute before going to Tribunal.

As a result, those wishing to claim have to await approval from the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (ACAS) to do so – which normally up to one month - meaning the latest quarterly figures are not directly comparable.

However, since the introduction of fees in July 2013, the number of cases has fallen by more than 60 per cent in three consecutive quarters.

Innes Clark, head of employment law at Morton Fraser said while a system for reducing or waiving fees in certain circumstances is in place, previously published statistics have revealed the number of reductions or waivers granted is low.

He said: “Whilst employers should not be faced with spurious claims, the impact of the fee requirements has been to create a major barrier to access to justice.

“The fee regime has unfairly hit low paid workers in particular, who should not be deterred, on grounds of cost, from pursuing legitimate claims.

“The publication of these statistics is further strong evidence that reform is needed."

Innes added: “Unison unsuccessfully challenged the fee regime earlier this year before the High Court in England & Wales. That decision was appealed.

“The hearing has been scheduled at short notice to take place in one week’s time on September 18.

“It is very likely that the statistics published today will be used by Unison in support of their appeal.”